Scientists from India and Russia are developing an unmanned…

Russian specialists from the Moscow Aviation Institute, with the participation of Indian colleagues, are developing a project for an unmanned aircraft designed to explore the surface of Mars. This idea arose after the Ingenuity helicopter, created by American scientists, made its first flight on the Red Planet.

The unmanned aircraft developed in Russia, designed to explore the surface of Mars, will have an electric propeller. The device will be able to stay in the atmosphere of Mars for up to 8 hours and cover distances up to 1500 km, developing a cruising speed of about 150 km/h, and its payload will be limited to 1 kg. The UAV itself, with a wingspan of 3.2 meters, will weigh about 4.3 kg.

According to Russian specialists who are simultaneously working on a scheme for delivering a future drone to the Red Planet, the aircraft has a serious advantage over a helicopter, as it requires a smaller power plant and offers higher autonomy with a payload.

The researchers plan to test a prototype of a Martian drone in the Earth's stratosphere as early as next year, but at the same time, experts are also considering a Martian drone made according to the tiltrotor scheme - its model is already being tested at MAI.